EDC4: New gene involved in familial breast cancer

An international research consortium led by Dr Jordi Surrallés, director of the Genetics Service at the Hospital de Sant Pau and professor of Genetics at the UAB, and by Dr Miquel Àngel Pujana, director of the ProCURE Research Programme of the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO, IDIBELL), has identified a novel gene involved in this type of cancer, known as EDC4.

Researchers have demonstrated that the EDC4 gene encodes a protein which interacts with BRCA1 and plays an essential role in DNA repair through the homologous recombination mechanism. By using massive sequencing techniques with more than one thousand breast cancer patients and healthy controls, researchers observed that the frequency of of EDC4 mutation carriers in patients with familial cancer is six times higher than in healthy individuals. Moreover, researchers analysed in detail the effect of these mutations by using advanced engineering and genetic edition techniques and were able to demonstrate that the mutations are pathogenic since they impair the repair capacities of the EDC4 gene. Finally, the authors also demonstrated that cells with mutated EDC4 are highly sensitive to PARP inhibitors, and this presents an opportunity to explore possible therapeutic options for patients with these gene mutations.

Breast cancer is one of the most prevalent cancers in our society. It is calculated that some 5-10% of these types of cancers are hereditary, often appearing in several members of a family at relatively young ages. The most important genes involved are BRCA1 and BRCA2, discovered in the mid-1990s. BRCA1 is a tumour suppressor gene involved in DNA repair through homologous recombination and in preserving the integrity of the genome. Breast and ovarian tumours lacking one of these two genes are more sensitive to a new-generation chemotherapy, the PARP inhibitors, which is revolutionising drug treatments in this type of cancer. The discovery of new genes involved in these repair mechanisms is very important in order to understand the development of these tumours and delve more deeply into their therapeutic vulnerabilities.

Hospital de Sant Pau is a pioneering centre in Spain in the study of BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes in patients with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. It was also the first hospital in Spain to include genetic analyses of these genes with the aim of offering better assistance to patients and their families. Dr Teresa Ramón y Cajal coordinates the Genetic Counselling Unit of the Medical Oncology Service, directed by Dr Agustí Barnadas. Dr Adriana Lasa coordinates the Oncogenetic Unit of the hospital's Genetic Service, directed by Dr Jordi Surrallés. Both hospital units work jointly since 1995 to offer diagnosis and assessment services in families with hereditary cancer, as well as clinical monitoring, prevention, early detection and highly specialised treatments for patients. The experience they have acquired throughout the years with thousands of families have allowed them to launch several translational biomedical research projects which have benefited numerous patients. Hospital de Sant Pau has gradually incorporated the latest technologies in genetic diagnostics. It currently analyses a panel of multiple cancer predisposition genes thanks to new-generation sequencing techniques. The impulse of genomic medicine at the hospital has been possible thanks to the incorporation of new massive sequencers at the Area of Clinical Genomics and the addition of new massive sequencing medical staff, including new technicians and a new bioinformaticien. These improvements contribute to making Hospital de Sant Pau one of the healthcare centres in Spain with the greatest capacity for sequencing, precision diagnostics and personalised therapeutic treatments.

As a public service, the mission of the ICO's Hereditary Cancer Programme is to work to reduce the impact of cancer in Catalonia through the identification of individuals and families with an increased risk of developing cancer, due to being carriers of mutations in highly penetrant cancer predisposition genes. Its range reaches over 50% of the adult population of Catalonia and includes the Genetic Counselling Unit of the ICO centres located in L'Hospitalet, Badalona and Girona. The programme conducts more than 2,000 genetic studies annually to determine mutations in the BRCA1/2 genes and in other genes known to be related to breast cancer.

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Original article:

Gonzalo Hernández, Maria José Ramírez, Jordi Minguillón, Paco Quiles, Gorka Ruiz de Garibay, Miriam Aza-Carmona, Massimo Bogliolo, Roser Pujol, Rosario Prados-Carvajal, Juana Fernández, Nadia García, Adrià López, Sara Gutiérrez-Enríquez, Orland Diez, Javier Benítez, Mónica Salinas, Alex Teulé, Joan Brunet, Paolo Radice, Paolo Peterlongo, Detlev Schindler, Pablo Huertas, Xosé S Puente, Conxi Lázaro, Miquel Àngel Pujana and Jordi Surrallés (2018) "Decapping protein EDC4 regulates DNA repair and phenocopies BRCA1." Nature Communications Publication of the study in the journal Nature Communications

This study has been published in the journal Nature Communications in an article co-authored by Dr Surrallés and Dr Pujana. The two lead co-authors of the paper are Dr Gonzalo Hernández from the UAB and Dr María José Ramírez from the Centre for Biomedical Network Research on Rare Diseases (CIBERER), both post-doctoral researchers and members of Dr Surrallés' research group, which forms part of the Institute of Biomedical Research of Hospital de Sant Pau, the UAB and CIBERER. Other co-authors of the research are Jordi Minguillón, Miriam Aza-Carmona, Massimo Bogliolo and Roser Pujol, from Dr Surrallés' research group; Paco Quiles, Gorka Ruiz de Garibay, Juana Fernández, Nadia García, Adrià López, Mònica Salinas, Àlex Teulé, Joan Brunet and Conxi Lázaro from the ICO; Rosario Prados-Carvajal and Pablo Huertas from CABIMER, Seville; Sara Gutiérrez-Enríquez and Orland Diez from Hospital Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona; Javier Benítez from the CNIO, Madrid; Paolo Radice and Paolo Peterlongo from the National Cancer Institute Milan (Italy); Detlev Schindler from the University of Wurzburg, Germany; and Xosé Puente from the University of Oviedo, Spain.

The consortium wishes to express their gratitude to various funding agencies. Dr. Surrallés' laboratory receives support from the ICREA-Acadèmia programme, the TV3 Marathon (Project 464/C/2012), the Ministry for Health (projects FANCOSTEM and FANCOLEN), the Ministry for Economics and Competitiveness (projects CB06/07/0023, SAF2012-31881 and SAF2015-64152-R), the European Commission (projects EUROFANCOLEN HEALTH-F5-2012-305421 and P-SPHERE COFUND), the Fanconi Anemia Research Fund Inc, USA, and the "Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, una manera de hacer Europa" (FEDER). CIBERER is an initiative of the Institute of Health Carlos III, Spain. This study also received the support of the Spanish Cancer Association (AECC, Hereditary Cancer Group, 2010), theGovernment of Catalonia (SGR 2014-364 and 2014-338), and the Institute of Health Carlos III (PIE13/00022-ONCOPROFILE, CP10/00617, PI10/01422, PI12/02585, PI13/00285, PI15/00854, PI16/00563, PI16/01218 and RTICC RD12/0036/0008). SG-E has a contract with the Miguel Servet Institute of Health Carlos III.